Paul J Penton – Songwriter

Trade-in – Daily Writing – June 28

“Go to Reg Hunt”, a voice seemed to boom from below the clouds. The golf clubs were being hefted into the boot, they snaggled against each other with metallic cries for freedom. The boot clumped shut with a low frequency boom and I was left staring at the spot of exposed red undercoat on the roof. My hand ran over the remainder of the paint job from last week; the Gemini now outfitted in a coat of deck egg blue seemed to be smooth, but the gradients on my skin detected imperfections irregularities and flaws that I had intended to level out with the cutting and polishing compound.

On Wednesday I got out on the street after waiting for a week for the paint to cure, visions of a shiny new strips of body work floated like zeppelins in the upper part of my minds eye. The screw driver clicked open the tin and I dabbed in a sheepskin cloth . The vapours from the cutting compound and the paint I was disturbing had a sort of sweet smell – tantalising almost like being in a lolly shop when I was a kid. The rubbing and grinding were beginning to smooth down the paint, but then disaster! The red undercoat made a re-appearance. Gripping fists of panic climbed my windpipe and breathing seemed to be temporarily suspended, as was my disbelief at the site of the undercoat – so soon!…. I had not even achieved a small glimmer of gloss yet. The last year of filling and sanding and checking flashed like a mountain snow melt before my eyes’. The aching muscles that had burned, The sore knees from crouching down too long.. all wasted?

“Go to Reg hunt”. the voice boomed. The car dealer was just around the corner. so the car and my deflated zeppelin dreams limped there and parked a safe distance away. When I saw ‘Betsy’, the cream 82 Corolla I knew my allegiance to the Gemini was over. A quick assessment of the Gemini revealed that ALL the paint would need to be stripped back……..